


Snow Fall

by ThisIsNotHowIDie



Series: Enemy You Can't Live Without [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy and Max have never seen snow before, Hawkins - Freeform, No Incest, Post Season 2, Sibling Bonding, mentions of child abuse, snow fall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 01:20:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20301082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsNotHowIDie/pseuds/ThisIsNotHowIDie
Summary: Billy and Max have never seen Snow Before





	Snow Fall

The alarm clock next to his bed reads 9:04 AM. Billy figures this either means that Neil is passed out drunk, and he’ll be too hungover today to cause Billy trouble. (Responsible Men wake up with the sun.) Or that he and Susan had crashed at whoseever house they went to last night. Either way, Billy is glad he got to sleep in. He’ll be nursing a small hangover of his own today. It is a few days into Christmas break. His first Christmas outside of California, and he isn’t exactly on speaking terms with anyone in his house. He’s still grounded from when Max stuck out to do whatever the fuck she was doing at the Byers house. Billy doesn’t like to think about it. 

Billy rolls out of bed, groaning. His ribs still hurt, over a month later. He’s pretty sure Neil broke one of them, but he’s not positive. No hospitals. He stretches and stands. Pajama bottoms sitting low on his hips. He never wears a shirt to bed, not even here in cold as fuck Hawkins Indiana. He really misses the California sun. The tan he’s had, for longer than he can remember is starting to fade and it's fucking  _ weird.  _ He hates the cold, hates bundling up to feel warm. He hates Hawkins.

He needs coffee, and bacon if they have any. He walks out of his room and notices the house is completely still. Yup, he is definitely the only one up. It’s not unusual for Max to sleep in. She never gets in trouble for doing so. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true. Susan does scold her if she doesn’t leave her room before noon, and if she sleeps in on a school day Billy is sure to give her an earful- maybe pull apart a cassette or two- but Neil never slams her head into a wall for it. His bare feet feel cold on the tile floor in the kitchen. He really wishes his dad would let them turn up the heat. Fucking bastard didn’t let anyone near the thermostat. 

Billy scoops a little too much coffee grounds into the filter, its okay, he likes it strong, but he knows Max will complain. He turns the pot on anyway and leans against the counter closing his eyes, and digging the heels of his hands into them. He’s fucking tired. The coffee pot chugs away, as Billy wills himself awake. He is  _ not  _ a morning person. Once the coffee is made he pours himself a cup, using Max’s favorite mug. Maybe he is being petty. He thinks he has a right, she snuck out, she disobeyed him, she stuck a god damn needle in his neck and pumped god knows what into his system, she threatened him with a damn baseball bat full of nails. He’s going to be petty for as long as he likes. 

He’s sipping the hot black coffee, relishing in the way the warmth spreads through him when he peeks into the fridge to see what there is to eat. No bacon, go figure. He goes to reach for the carton of eggs and sees those are missing too. Fucking Susan must have used them all to make Christmas cookies. Pancakes it was then. He closes the fridge and goes around the kitchen lining up what he needs on the counter. His is on his toes reaching for a mixing bowl on the top self when he catches a glimpse outside and completely freezes. Everything is coated in a blanket of white. He falls back, flat on his feet and continues to stare. He moves closer to the window not believing what he saw. A fresh coat of snow that was definitely not there when he fell asleep is coating the ground, the trees, his car. Everything. And it was still coming down. Snowflakes falling lightly to the ground in front of his very eyes. It is like something out of a movie and it takes his breath away. He hesitates at the window a moment longer before turning and running back towards the bedrooms. 

No one has to know that he slipped and almost fell as he dashes out of the kitchen. He’s too excited to even be embarrassed by it. There is snow outside! There is snow falling from the sky! Any other thought has left his mind because all he can think is “SNOW”. Billy bypasses his room and goes straight for Max’s door. He doesn’t bother knocking, now is not the time for pleasantries. Like he suspected she is sound asleep. She doesn’t even budge to the sound of her step-brother barging in. 

“Max,” Billy says, going over and placing a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly. “Max, Max wake up.” 

She groaned not opening her eyes. “Billy go away.” She huffed annoyed, pulling a pillow over her head. He grabs the pillow roughly, out from under her head. She growls as her head hits the mattress and she sits up in a huff.  _ “What.” _ she spits at him. 

“Max,” his eyes are bright “it’s  _ snowing, _ ” he says the last word a little breathless like he can’t believe it himself. Max stares at him, her eyes going wide as the reality of that hits her. She kicks the blankets off and goes to her window throwing the curtains aside. 

“Holy shit.” She laughs, and suddenly Billy is laughing behind her. Not the same crazy savage laugh she heard when he beat Steve's face in, a genuine  _ happy  _ laugh. 

“I know.” He says when she looks back at him. “Put shoes on… and a coat.” He adds as an afterthought, leaving her room to do the same. He pulls on a pair of beat-up converse and his leather jacket, zipping it up, all the way for once. 

Max pulls on a pair of rain boots and a sweatshirt she had stolen from Lucas earlier that week. When it was colder out then she had anticipated. Before they knew it the step-siblings are racing for the front door. Fighting over each other to get outside first. 

When they both are outside they stop to take it all in. Max walks out into the yard first. Grinning as the snow crunches under her feet. Bill is staring at the footprints it leaves behind. It almost reminds him of the beach. Almost. 

Billy runs his hand over the outside stair rail, watching as the small bit of snow that had piled on top of it, fluters to the ground. His fingers left cold. Max looks up at the sky, opening her mouth trying to catch the snowflakes in her mouth. Billy walks down the steps carefully, not wanting to slip. When he reaches the yard, he bends down and scoops up some snow in his hand, carefully shaping it into a ball. Max has her back to him, still looking up at the sky. He throws it, hitting her right between the shoulder blades. Max spins around, crying out at the sudden intrusion. 

“Billy what the fu-” Another snowball hits her in the chest. “Oh, that’s it!” She cried bending down to grab make her own snowball, Billy already busy on making a third. She tosses it at him hitting his side. He laughs at her. 

“Is that the best you got?” he yells, no malice in his voice. She throws another one, this one hits his shoulder, snow falling into his jacket and onto his chest, he cries out at the cold. Oh, that was it, no mercy, he threw the next snowball, wasting no time to see where it hit her, before making another. Max seemed to have the same idea in mind. 

Eventually, his hands start to get cold, and he really doesn’t want to make another snowball, so when Max hit him square in the chest, Bill decides to be dramatic. He clutches his hands over where she had hit him. “Oh, you got him!” He feigned pain. Billy fell backward, landing on his back, legs splayed out in front of him.

Max ran over, confused about what he was doing. “Billy?” She asks, leaning in just close enough from him to snag her and pull her down into the snow next to him. Laughing as he did. Max cried out, punching his arm after she landed. 

He ignores the insults she throws his way. It's still snowing, maybe even a little harder then it was earlier, and his clothes are soaked, hair clinging to his face, as snowflake after snowflake lands on his cheeks, his eyes, all over. He turns his head to see that Max is making a snow angel beside him. He snorts, dork. 

“You’re gonna catch a fucking cold.” He finally sighs, because he can feel like cold seeping into his skin now. He really wants to go stand under some hot water and get some dry clothes on. He stands offering his hand to help her up so she doesn’t ruin the snow angel she's made. She takes it, letting him help her. Max overs him a small smile, that’s more than he's gotten from her in… maybe ever. “Come on. I’m making pancakes.” He says ushering her towards the house.


End file.
